Since I never need to work outside of my home desktop, I’m OK with the dongle. Yes, the nice metal one that I got with Reason looks sturdier, but if you bump any dongle with your knee when it’s plugged in, the thin sheetmetal that forms the outer rectangle of the plug will bend. That happened to my SX dongle. Matters not at this point.
I will say that autotune v1.0 had an internet challenge/email reply/ response authorization scheme which caused me grief back in '99 or so. Probably due to a hardware upgrade on my part. When I considered taking an offer from them years later for a good price on an update to the latest version, I declined minutes before pulling the trigger when I discovered that an iLok was required. I don’t have one to this day, and at the time, wasn’t sure if I could use the Steinberg or Propellerhead dongle. I went with Melodyne instead.
Since C7 and Reason come with a dongle, I can live with that. I have to give props for supplying it and not requiring a separate purchase.
An online DRM option would be nice. Nothing pisses me off like leaving work and coming home to wrap up some editing on my laptop only to realize my dongle is still plugged in at work. Instant rage.
How is this done? I have tried to search for help on this as just got C7 / WL8 and want to be able to bring to rehearsals on lappy and that was the solution I thought of (not actually bothered about WL), but having the C7 Artist would mean being able to play back my midi backings, tweak, then be able to throw the file on my studio machine with the dongle protection and then done.
Not had a chance to really play or test yet as it only came last night, so all help appreciated!
I think this would be a great solution, in my main job as a surveyor I use a £3,500 piece of software, but having had a bunch of pen drives stolen, as soon as it came I emulated the dongle and then done, it is locked away (I know what people may say, but its a small UK developer and they know what I have done and are fine with it. At £700 a year maintenence on top of my original outlay they should be too!!). Building sites, rehearsal rooms and music venues are no place for a small piece of plastic!
If you want a version with soft eLicenser, you need to buy a version with a soft eLicenser (which equals a second license, since you can run the two versions at the same time). If you have a USB eLicenser, you can run soft eLicenser versions with your USB licenser, which is what you paid for - 1 license.
try Cubase Elements 7 Trial - no registration is required, no dongle needed…
This version runs for 30 days without any limitations.
Just download, install and enjoy:
Thanks guys, I am just looking, as I am sure many users are, for a safe mobile solution. I don’t want the second licence and agree, that is what it would seem to require, and wouldn’t actually mind if before I went out I had to “deauthorise” the dongle to a soft version for running on the laptop, then transfer the licence back before going back onto the main computer.
I paid a lot of money for the software so I want a solution that makes life as easy as possible for me and not a solution that makes life as secure as possible for the manufacturer. I’m the customer so I deserve to be the number one item on Steinberg’s priority list and not the shareholders that currently have that position.
I do agree with you, and a mutually beneficial system would be preferred, but given Steinbergs history with piracy (I am convert) I understand their reluctance on this to some extent. I know people will argue that “you knew it needed a dongle before you bought”, and that is very true, but given the way in which licencing CAN be managed now, I am sure that some form of solution is out there.
Again, bear in mind that my main field is within construction, and the software I buy can make the cost of Nuendo look like a 2nd hand Xbox Classic, but most of these companies offer more flexible solutions as they know that some of the environments the users work in are extremely susceptible to Jonny Lightfingers and his pals, so many offer licence checkouts and the like. Definitely worth looking at.
Why did you pay a lot of money for a solution that does not meet your needs and requirements? Why give up your hard earned money for something that is way too much hassle for you? Perhaps you should have invested in another product.
You deserve what was agreed upon when you made the purchase. Is there something that was agreed upon that has not been fulfilled?
Ah, now to be fair, I know the dongle is quite a sore point for many users, and I know a few that won’t touch Cubase because of it, and yes, you know the requirement when you buy, but I think that last statement is a bit tough. After all, if that is the case, what is the point of the feature request section of the forum? The features weren’t there when they bought the product, so why ask now?
WTF is the big deal about the Dongle? Sure, you could have argued, back in the day, that losing the Dongle would require re-purchase, but that policy has changed. Why shouldn’t a company be allowed to protect their product? Never had a single issue with my Dongle.
Sorry if it came across that way, but I have absolutely no issue with a company protecting its products at all. The testiment is the last cracked version being 5.1.2, it is more in the restriction this can place on genuine customers now that there are workable alternatives out there. I have tried all the various DAW’s and Cubase for me has always just sat right, and as such I accept the dongle as being something I have to accept if I want to use it, but I don’t think the current system is flexible enough as the way in which music is made / recorded has changed. Just because a system has always worked in one way to suit the needs of both the developer and the user, if things change then surely it is imperative for a developer to do so also. Just look at how Avid have been forced to alter their model.
Again, I know this system HAS to work to keep the money coming in to keep SB going as a business, and as a niche product (which a DAW is, with far less users than the likes of most Adobe or Autodesk products as they cross industries) they do need to convert more potential users into actual ones. Its pretty much accepted that the easy protection of Autodesk and Adobe products helped establish them as the defacto software in the early years, knowing that the business users HAD to buy the seats, but this is not a model that would work for a DAW developer.
The fact is, if the Reason system is working and is still uncracked, then there must be alternatives that can be used to appease users and protect the hard work the devs do.
In a perfect world, the dongle works, but when recording in pubs, with kids, wanting to do bits on the laptop in the house as opposed to in the studio, its much more risky.
I am sure you have, but if you read on forums about the biggest problem with dongles it is the risk when moving around(well, apart from the recent iLok problems!!). So this is the legitimate concern of dongle users, not just Steinberg, and as such other companies have addressed those concerns whilst still protecting their IP.
Very true on both counts, not very helpful or pragmatic, but I can’t argue with that.
Again though, look at those that have migrated from Cubase, when reading most forums on the reasons, the dongle is USUALLY mentioned. If my business was losing customers because of this, I would address it and quickly, because if you look at where Cubase is in the cost hierarchy of DAW’s, its pretty near the top, and whilst each has their own unique take on doing things (which, as I said earlier, fits in with me as it is where I started), if others start out and want to get into this legitimately, they would look at the cost and also the dongle as being a negative factor, so what else is going to bring them as new customers in?
And don’t bother with the Artist or Elements arguement, people getting into a piece of software these days don’t want to pay for a cut down version, they generally want the full fat product, and I would guess in most cases they would get a cracked version, they learn it and if they make money, they then buy that.
Been around a long time. If I had a nickel for everyone that said they were sick of the Dongle and quitting Cubase and then posted in the next version forum I’d be rich. Anyone running a business, making money, would invest the pittance it costs for Elements for “outside” work. If it were true that the migrants were hurting SB’s bottom line, things would have changed.
As to the risk of damaging the Dongle, SB has a policy of issuing a 100 hr temp license until the Dongle can be replaced so there’s no real issue any way you look at it, is there?
